Chargers Will Learn and Move On

There’s no denying that Sunday night’s defeat to the New Orleans Saints was a deflating loss. It’s always tough to win on the road, especially in a primetime affair in an environment like the Superdome, so to come up empty handed in a game that was within reach stung hard.

But while the mood was somber in the locker room, the team realized they are still 3-2 on the season and that the loss will serve to help them focus on preparations to improve as a team.

“We as a group are new to each other,” said head coach Norv Turner. “We do have some young guys. We’re going to be an outstanding team, there’s no question in my mind, number one because the way this team works at it and how badly they want to be.”

Following four games to open the season that were well decided before entering the fourth quarter, Sunday’s game vs. the Saints was the first match all year that came down to the wire. According to Philip Rivers, the lessons the team learned following the loss will serve to help the Bolts when it comes time for their post-season push.

“As deflated as I am and as hard as it is, I’m excited,” he said. “I just am because we fought and fought and fought. We didn’t get it done, and we know these are the games that you have to get it done and win eventually. At some point you have to win these, and we know that. But I just think we can grow so much from it. We have to let the dust settle for the next day or two, but then Denver is going to come in on Monday night for a division game and we have a chance to get our third division win. This game is gone. It’s gone right now.”

Ronnie Brown is another veteran who has been around long enough to also know that a game like this serves as a building block to accomplish bigger goals for the season. “(Tonight) was a hard fought game, and I think we’ve just got to capitalize on our opportunities and be able to overcome the mistakes we made,” he said. “We have to take it one play at a time and not think too much about what happened in the last series. We have Peyton (Manning) coming up next, and he’s going to be efficient, so we’ve got to be just as efficient on the offensive side of the ball. We can’t make mistakes or have turnovers in key situations.”

That starts right away as the Chargers prepare for next Monday night’s match against the Denver Broncos.

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